Hon. Chung Eui-yong, Co-Chairman of the Standing Committee and Secretary General of the ICAPP, visited Indonesia during October 27-29, 2014 to attend the official celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the GOLKAR Party of Indonesia, which was held at Pekan Raya Jakarta (PRJ) Kemayoran in the evening of October 28.

Meeting with the leaders of the GOLKAR Party

During his stay, Mr. Chung had a meeting with Hon. Aburizal Bakrie, Chairman of the GOLKAR Party, at his office on the 46th Floor of the Bakrie Tower in Jakarta on October 27, and discussed how to further promote cooperation between the ICAPP and the GOLKAR Party. The meeting was also attended by Hon. Theo L. Sambuaga, Deputy Chairman, and Hon. Ambassador Iris Indira Murti, Chairperson of the International Cooperation Board of the GOLKAR Party.

First of all, on behalf of the ICAPP Standing Committee, Mr. Chung extended to the GOLKAR Party most sincere congratulations on its golden anniversary and highest compliments on its contributions to establishing mature democracy and achieving remarkable economic development in Indonesia over the years under its leadership. He also expressed deepest gratitude to the GOLKAR Party for its strong support for, and active participation in, the ICAPP activities since its inception as one of the founding members.

Chairman Bakrie warmly welcomed and extended his gratitude for Mr. Chung’s attendance in the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of his party on behalf of the ICAPP and also highly appreciated the role played by the ICAPP in bringing together all political parties in Asia across political spectrum for the common objectives of promoting cooperation and understanding among countries and peoples in the region.

Chairman Bakrie also welcomed the recent decision by the ICAPP to recommend each country which is represented in its Standing Committee to bring representatives of two principal political parties from each country, where applicable, to future activities of the Standing Committee. In this regard, he said that the GOLKAR Party had already invited the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P: Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan), one of the two principal political parties with the GOLKAR Party, to attend the 23rd SC Meeting held in Colombo last September, but the PDI-P could not send its representative due to its National Convention which coincided with the SC Meeting.

Chairman Bakrie also readily accepted the ICAPP's request to host one of the future meetings of the ICAPP and offered to co-host the 25th SC Meeting in Jakarta in late October 2015 with the PDI-P. It was agreed that the exact dates and the venue for the meeting will be decided in due course through consultation with the Secretariat.

Chairman Bakrie also agreed to the proposal to host the 1st trilateral meeting among the ICAPP Standing Committee, the COPPPAL (Permanent Conference of Political Parties in Latin America and the Caribbean) Coordinating Body and the CAPP (Council of African Political Parties) Executive Council. It was agreed that the trilateral meeting will be held back-to-back with the 25th SC Meeting. It was also agreed that the agenda for the trilateral meeting will be prepared in due course through consultation among the Secretariats of the ICAPP, the COPPPAL and the CAPP.

Chairman Bakrie also agreed to contact the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Indonesia to send its representatives to the first meeting of the Asian-Latin American Business Council to be held in Mexico City during November 27-29, 2014.

In addition, Chairman Bakrie supported the ICAPP’s initiative to obtain observer status in the U.N. General Assembly, and promised to submit his recommendation to the Government of Indonesia to join the draft declaration to invite the ICAPP as an observer to the UNGA as a co-sponsor and also to sign the intergovernmental MOU to provide support for the ICAPP activities which have been so far signed by the governments of eight countries in the region.

Later, Mr. Chung had a more detailed discussion with the officials of the GOLKAR Party, including Ambassador Iris Indira Murti, and Hon. Rene F. Manembu, Deputy Treasurer General of the GOLKAR Party, tentatively agreed to hold the 25th SC Meeting on Friday, October 23 and the 1st ICAPP-COPPPAL-CAPP trilateral meeting on Saturday, October 24, 2015.

It was also agreed that a “Special Parliamentarian Seminar” will be held on the sidelines of the two events on a topic to be decided later through consultation between the ICAPP and the GOLKAR Party.

The GOLKAR Party also agreed that the hosts would provide local accommodation for up to two representatives from each participating political party in both meetings and the seminar.

Meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives

Mr. Chung had a meeting with Hon. Dr. Setya Novanto, newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives from the GOLKAR Party, on October 28. Speaker Setya Novanto, who is also the Treasure General of the GOLKAR Party, welcomed the decision to hold the 25th SC Meeting and the 1st trilateral meeting among the ICAPP, COPPPAL and CAPP in Indonesia, and promised to provide all the possible support and assistance of the Parliament of Indonesia to make the two events most successful

Contact with the Representative of the PDI-P

Mr. Chung also contacted Hon. Dr. Andreas Pirera, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the International Cooperation Board of the PDI-P, on October 29, and informed the decision to invite the PDI-P to participate in the future activities of the ICAPP Standing Committee as a new member.

Dr. Pirera welcomed with gratitude the decision by the GOLKAR Party and the ICAPP to invite the PDI-P to join the ICAPP Standing Committee as a new member and confirmed that his party would participate in future activities of the ICAPP Standing Committee. Dr. Pirera also said he would recommend the leaders of his party to consider sending its representatives to the fifth joint session between the ICAPP and the COPPPAL to be held in Mexico City during November 27-29, 2014.